An independent press has the responsibility to encourage full and authentic discourse. If we censor the conversation, we run the risk of losing the attention of the vast majority of American Jews, especially those of younger generations.
Recently, I spoketo more than 100 people at a synagogue about the need for an independent Jewish press. It’s a subject that, as editor and executive publisher of Moment, I hold close to my heart.
For most of history, Jews have been the people of the book, not the people of the press. Despite our love of reasoning and questioning in Talmudic dialogue, the concept of a free and independent press was not a Jewish one. It was among the revolutionary ideas that caught fire during the European Enlightenment, one which, looking back, makes a great deal of sense: A free society requires information, unfettered by government control, political and religious authorities or other institutions.
Our great-great-grandparents may not have invented the idea, but once they saw its value, they embraced it. With the Haskalah (the 19th-century Jewish enlightenment), Jews brought their prodigious literary skills to the wider public sphere (a phenomenon that continues today, in the legion of talented journalists who are Jewish). Noteworthy independent Jewish publications flourished, such as Der Moment, Warsaw’s Yiddish-language daily (1910-1939) for which Elie Wiesel named this magazine.
But from what I gather, the Jewish embrace of the Fourth Estate wasn’t easy. Why should it have been? An independent press and its values figured neither in ancient Jewish society nor in Jewish texts and oral tradition. Moreover, the kind of open discussion it encourages includes criticism and self-criticism. This came into direct conflict with the fierce, centuries-long need of diaspora Jewish communities for unity, which they considered vital to protect themselves from dangers lurking in the non-Jewish world.
No sooner had I finished my talk at the synagogue than a concerned man brought up the brouhaha over the 2006 Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer essay, “The Israel Lobby,” published in the London Review of Books (recently expanded into a book.) The man argued that the media coverage of the two political scientists had endangered Jews with their thesis that the United States supports Israel only because of the unparalleled power of the American Israel lobby. A lively discussion ensued in which most of those present, including me, concluded that a vigorous public discourse is preferable to the alternatives: Better for the controversial topic to be discussed openly than muttered behind closed doors. Walt and Mearsheimer may deserve criticism for their faulty analysis (which they are receiving aplenty), but if we want to preserve Jewish culture and identity for the long haul, open discussion wins.
This turn in the conversation epitomized the very tension in Jewish culture that I had described in my talk. Today, many of us feel the need to protect the community—which includes Israel—from criticism at any cost. Yet this clashes at times with the responsibility of an independent press to encourage full and authentic discourse. If we were to censor the conversation, we would risk losing the attention of the vast majority of American Jews, especially those of younger generations.
And so we can promise that the October issue of Moment contains some stories that may make you angry, some you may agree with and others we hope you find just plain engaging. Our investigation into the enduring relationship between evangelical Christianity and Major League Baseball deserves your attention. It explores crucial gray areas in a way that no other publication—or organization—has before.
We include a thoughtful profile of controversial playwright Tony Kushner; an ode to Sighet, Elie Wiesel’s Romanian hometown; and a conversation with Anthony Shadid, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Middle East reporter of Arab-American descent. On a lighter note, “Do You Know This Family?” examines The Simpsons, the long-running TV show that mercilessly pokes fun at religion (and everything else) but somehow manages to make Judaism look good.
Our book section takes a look at new works about Abraham Joshua Heschel and the Jewish relationship to military power. Anne Roiphe visits Shalom Auslander’s rebellious youth, then Diane Ackerman talks about the Nazi fascination with backbreeding animals to recreate extinct “Aryan” species.
Also in this issue, we introduce a new column, A Spiritual Moment, in which we invite a spiritual thinker to share a moment of personal significance.
Parents, teachers, librarians and students, please visit our website, momentmag.com, to learn about our two exciting contests for young writers. These deadlines are coming up.
And each of you is invited to join us in Washington, DC on October 14 to meet the talented winners of Moment’s 2006 Emerging Writer Awards. Ann Kirshner, Elisa Albert and Steve Sheinkin will be reading from their work, and a reception will follow. Speaking for myself and for every member of the Moment staff, we look forward to seeing you there.
